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Bitterroots is short on story and long on rambling descriptions of Montana towns, lore, and landscape. It reads, mostly, like a scenic advertisement! It’s a short book with all the action packed into the last 4 chapters. I’ve read all of the Joe Pickett series .. twice! This Cassie novel failed by comparison to the Pickett series.

Really bothersome that none of the accents are even close to rural MT. This narrator seems to think Montana is in the south! Lol The characters are not acting like anyone I would have ever met there. The location names are not pronounced with a local dialect at all. The narrator makes this book read extremely slow. Not sure the author or the narrator have ever actually spoken to a native Montanan.

I have several of Box’s books in the past and always liked them. This one, however was clearly the best. It has a great lead character and an outstanding story.